Thursday 31 December 2026
- General:
- Lectionary
New Year: Watchnight
Deuteronomy 8:1-20
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (StF 465)
O God of Bethel, by whose hand thy people still are fed (StF 475)
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (StF 83)
Seek ye first the kingdom of God (StF 254)
You call us to the wilderness (website only)
or Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Come, let us sing to the One (StF 2)
O Lord, we are always in your presence (StF 33) especially for prayer response
Sing of a God in majestic divinity (StF 13)
When we are living, we are in the Lord (StF 485)
Psalm 8
I sing the almighty power of God (StF 107)
or Psalm 90
Come, let us anew our journey pursue (StF 460)
Revelation 21:1-6a
As with gladness men of old (StF 224) verse 4
Darkness like a shroud covers the earth (StF 170)
Hills of the north, rejoice (StF 172)
It came upon the midnight clear (StF 205)
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! (StF 330)
New every morning is the love (StF 137)
O God, you search me and you know me (StF 728)
Praise is rising, eyes are turning to you (StF 64)
You showed us mercy (StF 488)
Matthew 25:31-46
Blest are the pure in heart (StF 244)
Hark the glad sound! The Saviour comes (StF 171)
Here on the threshold of a new beginning (StF 684)
Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love (StF 249)
Up to your table, Lord, you call us (StF 599) verses 1&3
We pray until the hour (StF 741)
When I needed a neighbour, were you there? (StF 256)
or Luke 12:13-21
Day of judgment! Day of wonder! (StF 732)
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (StF 34)
or Luke 12:35-50
A charge to keep I have (StF 658)
As servants working an estate (StF 491)
Day of judgment! Day of wonder! (StF 732)
Light a candle in a darkened place (StF 174)
Lo, He comes with clouds descending (StF 177)
Stay with me (StF 780)
We pray until the hour (StF 741)
A prayer through sorrow and joy to renewal
When I put my hand on the rosary. Oh Lord!
My spirit automatically counts three decades for joy.
Thank you, Jesus!
Three intervals follow to take it all in,
breathing in deeply and offering you a smile.
Thank you, Jesus!
The next two decades for sorrow will be hard. Oh comforter!
Even the memory of them makes my spirit shrink.
Pray with me, Jesus!
Is it ok to drop a tear or to sweat blood?
One interval to gather forces,
to continue to be faithful even in challenging circumstances.
Then, five units, consolidating hope over despair. Gloria Patri!
And finally, the cross, the mystery of my salvation.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!
Here might I stay, but you, risen Christ,
bid me to start again!
Something new might be coming in my direction. Amen.
Inspired by Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy: A Consideration of the Rosary by the Revd Neville Ward.
Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto (Léo), General Secretary, World Methodist Council
A prayer that God make us holy - Alternative Prayer
God of grace grant us your protection. God of compassion show us your mercy. God of salvation heal our wounds. God of purity make us holy. Amen.
Ambrose of Milan (c.339–397)